A South Korean gasoline cargo has been booked for the US west coast, as arbitrage traders take advantage of a wide west-east price differential.
The Maersk Christianbro was fixed to carry 250,000 bl of clean products from South Korea to the US west coast on 26 June, with Japanese trader Itochu the charterer. The product is most likely to be gasoline.
The premium of Los Angeles 84R Carbob over Singapore 92R hovered above $11/bl earlier this week, when the vessel was likely fixed. The differential narrowed to $7.55/bl yesterday, marking a marginally still viable arbitrage.
The west-east differential has been approaching $10/bl since late May. But few shipments were booked for the transpacific journey, as refinery turnarounds in South Korea limited the availability of US-specification material. South Korea did not export any gasoline to the US in May, compared with 28,000 b/d in April.
The Maersk Christianbro was fixed to carry 250,000 bl of clean products from South Korea to the US west coast on 26 June, with Japanese trader Itochu the charterer. The product is most likely to be gasoline.
The premium of Los Angeles 84R Carbob over Singapore 92R hovered above $11/bl earlier this week, when the vessel was likely fixed. The differential narrowed to $7.55/bl yesterday, marking a marginally still viable arbitrage.
The west-east differential has been approaching $10/bl since late May. But few shipments were booked for the transpacific journey, as refinery turnarounds in South Korea limited the availability of US-specification material. South Korea did not export any gasoline to the US in May, compared with 28,000 b/d in April.
